Of All The Street Corners In The World
by CaptainsAndSoldiers
Summary: It's a year after Casey Cartwright leaves CRU for good, and relocates to DC - where she finds herself at work, at law school, and more alone that she would like. A chance encounter with old boyfriend, Max Tyler, leaves the both of them questioning their feelings and wondering if their worlds might, and should, collide once more. (Casey x Max, Rated T for language, content.)
1. Chapter 1

[Hello, welcome to my fanfic... I have been rewatching Greek and I can't get over poor Max, so I've brought him back in my own CaseyxMax story. If you like, please favorite and review. Next chapters coming imminently 3 ]

Chapter 1

It was a perfectly normal day in May - one of those nice ones where the sprinkle of summer could be felt on the wind, but the pleasant weather of a DC spring remained. Casey Cartwright walked down in the direction of her Cleveland Park apartment. She tucked a loose piece of blonde hair that had fallen out of her bun back behind her ear, which contained an earbud playing a low fi pop song. Casey yearned for home - some ice cream, whatever was on Bravo... these were the little pleasures in her life. With a tinge of melancholy, she recalled how this kind of conduct would have been frowned upon back in college - wanting to stay in all the time and veg out, that is. Sorority girls were peppy and social. Parties were regular. _But everyone's gotta grow up_ , she reflected to herself. Adulthood was all about work. And law school. And law school was work. With Cappie long gone, and Ashleigh in New York, and Rusty still at CRU... those times seemed like a world away.

Not that she didn't love DC - the energy, the look of it, the power emanating for the many government buildings downtown - it was just a long ways away from what she personally referred to these days as her "past life".

Little did she know how much one person was about to change that.

However, right now, she was simply walking home. She moved past storefronts; bakeries and restaurants and bars filling up with the Thursday night after work crowd. Her mind drifted to school and what she needed to do, assignments and so on, and what paperwork she needed to finish at her day job at a law office. Ok, so she wasn't a high powered lawyer or strong willed politician yet. But, everyone needed to start somewhere. Her momentary post graduation dalliances at CRU had cost her. But, better late than never.

Reaching the end of the block of many shops and restaurants, she came to a halt as the walk light was red. Looking innocently around, a tall stranger two people down caught her eye. He carried a brown paper bag resting against his torso with one arm, and a grey messenger bag swung from his other lanky shoulder. When he turned his head straight again, she almost choked.

" _Max?!_ " she exclaimed, mostly to herself out loud. She pulled out her headphones. The tall dark haired man looked around wildly. When he caught her eye he looked as surprised as she did.

"Max Tyler!" she repeated.

 _Of all the street corners to be in at, in all the random Thursday nights, in all the cities in the world._

The light changed and the crowd around them crossed the street, but Max stayed frozen. He was staring at her with his mouth slightly parted and his dark eyes wide, like he didn't know what to do with himself. Or that he was paralyzed with surprise, perhaps.

 _Time had been good to Max_ , Casey surmised as she looked him over for a few seconds. He still had his thick dark hair and boyish features, but more… mature looking. His hair seemed to have the semblance of an actual haircut, and the short sleeved plaid shirts and hiking boots were replaced with a blue button down shirt with rolled up sleeves, and dark slacks with black brogues.

"It's me…." she said, breaking into a friendly smile. "Casey… Cartwright?"

He blinked, and nodded fast.

"I know," he replied quickly. "I mean- I just didn't think…. hi."

She laughed in spite of herself, and stepped closer. Max Tyler. It truly was nice to see him, actually, despite all that had happened… normally seeing an ex would be awkward, or something to be avoided if possible. But she was so surprised to see him, and it had been so long… a familiar face of any kind was a pleasure to come across.

"I didn't know you were in D.C.," she said. He nodded.

"Er, sorry, yeah… I'm at Goddard."

He stuck out a hand. She broke into an amused smile again. _A handshake?_ She accepted it, out of place as it felt. His big hand felt warm round hers for the few seconds he held it.

"The NASA center?"

"Yeah. Out at Greenbelt. But I live here. I didn't… know you were here either."

His stammer and awkwardness took her back to a simpler time. That short time they knew each other in senior year, before they had dated. The Casino Night at Omega Chi. That black suit she'd picked out for him at the thrift store. Counting cards. A lot of memories were rushing back to her.

"I'm finishing up my law degree at George Washington," she informed him. "And a day job in an office. Just for rent and tuition, you know how it is…."

She trailed off, suddenly aware of how cheerful and upbeat she sounded. She was subconsciously forcing it. Casey bit her tongue and waited for him to say something.

"Ah, right…" he replied, shifting his weight.

"How'd you get to NASA? I mean, back to NASA." she asked when he was silent, recalling what she'd learned about him that long long time ago.

"I finished my degree at Cambridge. In England. And NASA offered me a job."

"That's… that's really great."

She smiled up at him. Ok, she admitted to herself, _he was still pretty cute._ Really cute. The whole experience felt surreal - she'd almost forgotten where she was and where she was headed. The surrounding world had kinda all become a mess of noise and color in the sense that she was so wrapped up in memories and recollections that it had removed her from the moment.

"Yeah." he said, giving her a small smile that added warmth to his deep brown eyes. "How's Rusty?"

"Finishing up at CRU. He's pretty happy, he's got his eyes on some scholarships for grad school. He's going places."

"I always thought he would."

It was a kind statement, and she knew he meant it. He was still as genuine as she'd remembered.

He looked down at the package he held against his side.

"Oh, sorry, didn't mean to hold you up," Casey said quickly. But she didn't want him to go. She wanted to talk to him more. She wanted to see how he'd gotten here. She wanted to know what he'd been up to for the past two plus years.

"Er, yeah…." he muttered. "It was ah, nice to see you."

He looked at her with his big dark eyes shining with some emotions she couldn't read, and gave her a small smile.

"It was nice to see you too," she replied, fingering the strap of her purse. "Here's my card…"

She reached into her bag and fumbled around till she found one, and held it out to him. He looked at it for a few seconds before pocketing it and procuring one of his own.

"Well, have a good night," she said, feeling somewhat overwhelmed. "Maybe we can get together some time, catch up? Gripe about our jobs?"

He blinked at her again, and ran his tongue over his upper lip.

"Ah - jobs, right. Goodnight yourself, Casey Cartwright."

She smirked.

"You too, Max Tyler." she replied, parroting his use of her last name. He grinned all of a sudden then looked down at the ground and started crossing the street when he saw the light had changed.

She stayed grounded in her spot, watching his receding back as he turned a corner across the street.

 _Max Tyler, Deputy Director, Polymer Science Division_ , read his business card in neat block letters. A small glossy NASA logo sat on the other end of the card. And there were a few phone numbers - cell, work, fax, so on. She put the card in an inside purse pocket and fished around for her phone, selecting a contact before instigating her street crossing, finally.

"Hey Case!"

A cheerful feminine voice answered. It was always nice to hear the voice of her long time best friend, Ashleigh.

"Hi, Ash," Casey said, smiling. "What's up?"

"Just shopping on Fifth Avenue, you know…" Ashleigh's voice replied happily.

"Fifth Avenue, huh?"

Ashleigh had married a rich young New York broker a few months ago - she was now Ashleigh Howard-Horner. And Casey always thought there was no one more in need of a large disposable income than Ash, who was never one for money, or jobs, but always was one for shopping.

"Yep! What's up with you, _you're_ the one who called, my sweet little office drone,"

"Hey, I'm taking that personally…." Casey chuckled. "Anyway, you'll never guess who I met on the street just now."

"Ooh! Angelina Jolie!"

"No… but someone I thought it would be even less likely to see. Max Tyler."

"Max? Like, CRU Max?"

Ashleigh sounded as surprised as the man in question himself had looked, just a few minutes ago.

"Yeah, that Max."

"You mean, gave-up-CalTech-for-you, dumped-him-at-a-party Max? That one?"

"Ash…." Casey said in a hurt tone, feeling genuinely bad in that moment. Many things she hadn't thought about in a very long time were suddenly coming back, all too fast.

"Sorry," her friend said, "That was meeeean. But, wow, what's he doing in DC?"

"Working for NASA, he said."

"What was he like?"

"Tall. A bit awkward."

"...and?"

Casey knew her perceptive friend could see right through her, even though she couldn't actually see her.

"And…. handsome. A little."

"Hah! I knew it!" Ash said triumphantly. "He's still hot. Did you get his digits?"

"What is this, 2006? _Digits?_ I got his business card."

"You should ask him out!"

"He's my ex….," Casey replied hesitantly after a pause. "I need to…. process. He might hate my guts. Plus… I don't know what…. I want."

"That's pretty strong. And vague."

"Well… it was a rough breakup. Jesus, feels like it's junior year all over again."

Ashleigh laughed musically.

"Ah, so many surreal moments and awkward encounters."

"You can say that again." Casey said, chuckling. She felt herself slipping too far into the memories hole. Max's surprised face was still floating through her mind.

 _Time to change the subject._

"So, tell me more about Fifth Avenue…"

But even as Ashleigh started prattling on excitedly about this store and that one, she still couldn't stop thinking about the encounter. About the guy she'd left so many years ago. And what she would possibly have to do with him in the future.


	2. Chapter 2

[Author's Note: Thanks for reading! Don't forget to favorite and/or review if you like. Now, hear Max's side...]

Chapter 2

As he waited for the coffee maker to finish boiling, Max Tyler reached into his pocket for what seemed like the millionth time since yesterday evening. He ran his thumb over the face of a plain white business card within it. Keep touching it and you'll rub a hole through it, he thought sarcastically.

After he'd gotten home yesterday, he'd put it on his kitchen counter, propped up against some books for safety. But he'd found himself looking at it time, and time again. Why? It wasn't clear. He wasn't being very rational at the time. Maybe to just make sure it was still there. Putting it in his pocket today was an impulsive move. He'd snatched it from his table all of the sudden, while he was grabbing his keys, and looked down at it in his hand again.

Casey Cartwright.

The name printed in shiny black letters, the name he thought, heck, he hoped he'd never hear again. Or did he? Since yesterday evening, nothing made sense any more. He'd gone a long time without thinking of her, of what they had. But he'd impulsively pocketed it once again and departed for the Metro.

This is the girl who'd _broke his heart_. That expression seemed so melodramatic and soap opera like, but for this, it fit. Max Tyler was generally an incredibly rational person. He was reserved, intelligent, and methodical. He never saw himself as the melodramatic type. But losing Casey… well, he certainly coped with it worse than the last girl he'd lost.

He wanted to be mad at her. He wanted to be able to chuck the card into the trash, to forget about her perfect hazel eyes and silky hair. But now he was rubbing the card with his thumb again.

 _Tyler, you're a fucking basket case,_ he remarked internally, bitterly. Bitter like this coffee he was brewing. Jesus, since when was he so dramatic? Women really messed with his head. Maybe that's why he'd pointedly avoided getting involved with any for the last…. well, Casey was his last. He was never good at flirting, anyway. After all, she'd gotten him, not the other way around.

Then again, he was so busy working on his masters that there was hardly time… for much of anything.

The coffee maker finished with a _ding_. He refilled his Cambridge University travel mug, savoring the bracing aroma of the drink. Down the hall, voices were approaching. A group of men entered.

Normally he would have been more glad to see them - a group of engineers coworkers he'd more or less befriended in his time here so far - but right now he wanted more to be alone. They saw him before he could escape, however.

"Hey, Max!" the one at the front said, Dustin Moskovitz, a short, earnest faced man in his late twenties.

"Hey, Dusty…" Max replied, giving the group a tight smile. With Dusty were Amit and Vik, two other engineers who were having their own conversation.

"How's it goin', then?" Dusty asked, pulling the coffee maker toward him and reaching for a clean mug from the cabinet. These were assorted science related ones, mostly from contracting firms and science conventions.

"Fine, I mean, it's Friday…" Max replied evenly, at a loss for anything else to say.

"You finally gonna take us up on drinks at Marty's tonight, Maxi?" Amit asked, after he and Vik stopped talking. The thin Indian man in black glasses and a blue NASA polo grinned at him.

"I don't know…"

"Come on, what is it, the fifth time we've asked?"

 _Fourth_. But he kept his mouth shut. The truth was, as much as Max enjoyed his job, he didn't really want to go to some loud local bar with his work buddies, usually. He and excessive drinking usually didn't mix well. But today…

"I guess, I guess I'll go." he conceded after a moment of consideration. Being left alone by himself in his own apartment tonight wouldn't be good for him, he reasoned. A drink might be alright.

The three guys grinned and made their own exclamations of excitement. Max took a sip of his coffee and joined in the small talk out of politeness. And after that, five o'clock came quicker than he expected. He'd thrown himself into his work that day, anything to keep his mind occupied and stop it from scurrying down Casey Cartwright lane again. Before he knew it, he was walking into through the door of a local watering hole with his coworkers.

Max wasn't a huge bar guy. He observed that things were starting to get busy at Marty's, a typical unpretentious suburban place that he'd heard about a few times from coworkers. Dusty had mentioned something about a bucket of beers special, or something, Max had only been paying half attention.

He followed the jolly group across the dark wood floor of the establishment, toward the back where the glossy upholstered booths were. Various knick knacks and photos adorned the walls of the place, including a large vintage NASA sign - clearly, the bar knew where many of its patrons were employed.

For some reason, the image of the old CRU standby - Dobbler's - popped into his head. He shook it out as quickly as he could.

"So, what's up with you, Tyler? You seem quiet," Dustin observed some time later, gesturing to Max across from him with his beer bottle. Max had one in his hand himself. He'd drunk most of it, already feeling it loosening him up.

"Er, well…" he began, clearing his throat. "Well, I ran into my ex yesterday…"

The other guys winced on his behalf.

"Ah, that's never fun," Vik observed.

"Did she get fat?" Dustin inquired, chuckling.

"No…. she's still…"

Max trailed off. _Still beautiful_. Still with those captivating eyes he couldn't for the life of him forget. He took another drink.

"My college ex girlfriend," he confided. The alcohol was letting him speak freer than usual. "I turned down CalTech to stay with her and she dumped me a few months later."

"Didn't you go to Cambridge?" Amit asked.

"Yeah… yeah, I left after that whole fiasco, and found myself a spot there."

"Damn, Tyler, that's heavy," Dustin decided. "I'll drink to ya - in fact, let's get another round."

The other guys nodded, telling him that it was "all in the past", and even a "bitches be crazy" slipped in there somewhere. He laughed in spite of himself and reached for another beer. He didn't intend to get that tipsy, but…

An hour or two, and several rounds, passed. Everyone was different levels of jolly drunk.

"Well, I hope we made ya forget your troubles for a bit, Tyler…" Dustin said, grinning at Max across from him, who was certainly feeling out of it, to say that least. The room around him was a barrage of colors, voices and music. He felt very warm inside and comfortably loose and numb. His decision making and faculties, however, were more than a little impaired.

"You did, you… did, thanks, guys…." he replied drunkenly. "I have her dumb card right here…. been carrying it all day, can you believe _THAT?!_ "

"You got it bad, Maxi…" Vik replied with a loud laugh.

Drunk Max reached into his pocket and slapped the thing onto the table.

"You should call her, man!" Dustin suggested.

"I dunno…."

"Tell her where she can shove her business card!"

The rest laughed rip roaringly. Max found himself joining in. Somehow, his phone found itself in his hand.

"Yo, he's actually doing it!" Vik told Dustin with a cackle.

Fumbling but achieving it somehow, Max dialed.

Casey opened her bathroom door, the steam from it spreading into the the bedroom. Her wet hair wrapped in a towel and her fuzzy pink robe tied around her body, she walked into the main area of her small apartment, which was really just a tiny kitchen with a living room area with a couch and a TV.

Humming as she did so, she poured herself a glass of wine and finished washing up her dinner dishes.

 _Crazy Friday night, Cartwright_. Back in college, a Friday night meant limitless opportunities, most of the time. Things were different now. However, that wasn't the thing she missed most about that time… there were others. And at this point, she'd come to peace with her frequent stay ins.

After she finished the dishes, she contemplated working on one of her papers for class, but decided that it was Friday, dammit, and she deserved to take something back for herself. Especially after the Thursday night surprise.

Settling down on her comfy couch, she clicked on the TV and channel surfed for a while. Pleasant surprise - Oxygen was showing _Pride and Prejudice._ The Kiera Knightly one, AKA, the cute one. She watched the scene where the Bennett sisters were leaving Bingley's estate after Jane stayed there. _Oh, Mr. Darcy_. Tall, dark haired, handsome..

Casey could think of someone else who fit that description who she was thinking about more than she'd like.

Stretching out and lying across her couch, she tucked her hands together next to her cheek _. Max kind of looked like Matthew MacFadyen's Mr. Darcy_ , she remarked absently to herself. Same dark hair and big nose. But kinder eyes.

It had been so long since she'd seen someone from the old days. And longer since she'd felt a meaningful connection with another male. Cappie? Well, she'd said it before, but the Cappie chapter of her life was resolutely over - for good this time. And it wasn't like college where she'd have to be forced to see him around again. No, he was long gone to South America. Last she saw of him was picture on Facebook, of him smiling, surrounded by small grinning Ecuadorian kids; kids he was teaching English to. Who would have guessed?

Ending the relationship was a mutual decision. But Cappie was her last vestige of the old. Her last reminder of those old good (and bad) times. With him gone, Ash in New York again, and Rusty still back in Cyprus and soon to start his own life elsewhere, well… she felt like Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice after her sister and best friend had both departed to other places. A little alone.

Proud of where she was now in life, but not quite fulfilled. But here was another player from the past life, dredging up so many old feelings and thoughts.

A small part of her wondered if Max was single. But she wanted that part to shut up. There was no reason she should expect for him to just allow her to jump into his arms… much less even want to talk to her. Not after what she'd done to him. Casey downed the rest of the wine.

Once the movie had finished, she'd yawned and decided it was time for bed. She put away her wine glass and before shutting off the lights, picked up her phone off the counter.

One missed call, one new voicemail. Both from a number she didn't recognize, sent around the time she was in the bath. Curiously, she put the phone on speaker and hit play on the voicemail. A loud, somewhat slurred male voice came through the other end. She almost dropped her phone when she realized who it was.

" _Heeeey, Casey. It's me - Max. Max Tyler. I've had your, um, card, in my pocket all damn day and I thought, why don't I give you a call?_ "

There was a garble of male voices. Loud music and other such ambience could be heard in the background, indicating to her that this call was made in a crowded, busy place. _A fucking drunk dial_. She couldn't help but laugh.

" _Anyway…. I hope you're having fun with that guy… and you know, I.. think you're-_ "

There were more garbled loud voices, and the voicemail cut off. Casey stood there for a few minutes, attempting to get her bearings back. That guy? Cappie? And what did he think? It had gotten cut off. And he'd been carrying the card all day?

She played it a few more times. His voice, silly as it sounded - inside, she knew she was hungry to hear it again.


End file.
